Airborne 12.09.16

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Airborne 12.09.16

NORAD Fighters Respond To So-Called GA 'Incursion'

News/Analysis By James R. Campbell, ANN E-I-C

A US Coast Guard helicopter, under the direction of North
American Aerospace Defense Command (otherwise known as NORAD),
intercepted a Cessna 172 GA aircraft in the vicinity of the capital
region at approximately 5:38 p.m. EST, Saturday.

The general aviation aircraft was not in radio communications
and shortly after intercept, landed without incident at Potomac
Airfield, Fort Washington, MD. The helicopter was from Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington, VA.

NORAD is quick to note that it "may be required to monitor,
shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land and/or destroy
platforms deemed a potential threat to North America." NORAD is the
bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for
the air defense of North America and maritime warning. The command
has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD
Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD
Region at Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at
Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The command is poised both tactically
and strategically in our nation’s capital to provide a
multilayered defense to detect, deter and prevent potential threats
flying over the airspace of the United States and Canada.

Aero-News/Analysis: This yet another alleged
incursion in the complex airspace that surrounds Washington, DC, an
outgrowth of the post-9/11 'Security Theater' that was fought
(ineffectively) by a number of the aviation associations and
the FAA -- and was directed by a TSA that obviously couldn't come
up with a workable and flyable system that would actually enhance
safety and allow aviation to conduct business in one of the most
popular destinations in the nation. Even though the system has been
in place for a number of years (though modified several times in
that period), the arduous security procedures has snared countless
pilots with all manner of experience and aviation backgrounds
(students to ATPs... and even a few Feds, to boot)... leaving one
to question why this system hasn't been redesigned by some with
actual knowledge of the comings and goings of the aviation world...
because this system SURE ISN'T IT. -- Jim Campbell, ANN
E-I-C